Sendai Girls’ on 4/6/17 Review

Sendai Girls’ is one of those promotions I try to check in with at least once a month, as while their roster is very small they have some quality wrestlers. This is a big event for them, as Chihiro Hashimoto is challenging Aja Kong in an attempt to win back the Sendai Girls’ World Championship. We also get Meiko Satomura vs. Hiroyo Matsumoto, plus a Sendai Girls’ Tag Team Championship match! Here is the full card:

A very full card, which means some of these matches will definitely be clipped. As always, you can click on the wrestlers’ name above to go to their profile.

Konami vs. Mika Shirahime

The winner of this match goes on later tonight to face the winner of Kimura/Momono to find the next challenger for the tag team championship. I talk about Konami on a regular basis so you are all probably familar with her, she is two years into her career and currently wrestles quite a bit in Stardom. Mika Shirahime is a Sendai Girls’ wrestler that debuted in the fall of 2015, she quickly fell behind Chihiro Hashimoto but looks to try to get up the card some in 2017. Winning this mini-tournament would be a good way to accomplish that.

They circle each other until Konami tackles Mika, they jockey for position on the mat until Konami gets the ankle lock applied but Mika gets to the ropes. Konami twists Mika’s legs in the bottom rope before kicking her, PK by Konami and she covers Mika for a two count. Fisherman suplex by Konami and she puts Mika back in the ankle hold but Mika gets into the ropes again. Konami goes off the ropes but Mika nails her with a high kick, cover by Mika but Konami barely kicks out. Rolling Northern Lights Suplexes by Mika, she picks up Konami and she hits a pair of high kicks for another two. Mika goes up top but Konami avoids the diving body press, Konami then goes up top and she delivers a missile dropkick. Fisherman suplex hold by Konami, but Mika bridges out of the pin. Konami goes for a high kick but Mika ducks it and rolls up Mika for two. Konami picks up Mika and goes for a suplex, but Mika reverses it into a cradle for the three count! Mika Shirahime is the winner!

A bit clipped, I think we missed the middle of the match that helped set up the finishing stretch. I liked everything they showed though, Konami and Mika have similar styles and they meshed together really well. I was surprised Mika won since she hasn’t had a lot of luck lately, but the cradle win helped keep Konami strong as well. Even for a a clipped opener match, I thought it was pretty solid and a fun match. Mildly Recommended

Hana Kimura vs. Mio Momono

As stated above, the winner of this match will later face Mika Shirahime to find the next challenger for the tag team championship. Hana is barely one year into her career but has already had championship success and won the hearts of millions of people around the globe. Like Konami, she has been a regular in Stardom the last few months, and she also wrestles in W-1 ACE (her official affiliation). Mio Momono debuted in Marvelous in February of last year so she technically isn’t a rookie, but she has flown pretty under the radar since Marvelous doesn’t make TV.

Hana and Mio trade holds to start, Mio gets Hana to the mat first but Hana returns to her feet and puts Mio in a headlock. Mio gets out of it but Hana shoulderblocks her to the mat, Mio kips up however and dropkicks Hana. Irish whip by Mio but Hana dropkicks her, Hana ties up Mio’s legs and puts her in the Muta Lock. Hana goes for a crab hold but Mio reverses it, inside cradle by Mio and a backslide but each move gets a two count. Mio hits a pair of jumping crossbodies but her cover gets another two, she picks up Hana and she hits a scoop slam. Mio goes up top and hits a diving crossbody, but Hana bridges out of the pin. Mio goes off the ropes but Hana slaps on a sleeper. Mio gets into the ropes for the break, Hana picks up Mio and she hits a vertical suplex. Hana goes off the ropes but Mio catches her with a bodyscissors roll-up for two. After she kicks out, Hana nails Mio in the face with a big boot, she then goes up top and she delivers a missile dropkick. Cover by Hana, and she gets the three count! Hana Kimura wins the match.

A bit on the short side but I liked this one too. Mio is coming along nicely, her offensive is still pretty simple but she hits everything well and showed a bit of fire. Hana doesn’t wrestle in her Oedo Tai attire in Sendai Girls’ but still was showing a bit of an edge, she knocked off Mio’s head with one of the boots and glared at her after the match instead of offering a handshake. A fun match between two young wrestlers, nothing too memorable but nothing wrong with it.

Sendai Girls’ didn’t spend a lot of time on this match so I won’t spend a lot of time hyping it up. The most notable thing is the random appearance by Emi Sakura in a meaningless six woman tag match, as its pretty normal for everyone else here. None of these wrestlers are affiliated with Sendai Girls’, as they are all Freelancers used mostly as card filler. Doesn’t mean the match was bad in full, it just didn’t have a real meaningful storyline coming into it.

Eiger and company attack before the match can even start, and the action spills out of the ring and into the stands. We clip ahead to Lee and Eiger in the ring together and they go right into some Eiger comedy, complete with a full creepy zombie chain with all the wrestlers participating. KAORU ends up scaring everyone, she gets her piece of table but Eiger spits dust into her face and hits a diving body press. Nicole hits a diving body press as well, Rose follows with a Swanton Bomb onto KAORU and she covers her for the three count! Nyla Rose, Big Bang Nicole, and Eiger are the winners.

The match was clipped from 12 minutes to 2 minutes and was basically just the Eiger comedy. I’m not complaining the match was clipped, something had to be and it was the least critical match on the card, but even if you are a fan of any of these wrestlers there still isn’t anything here to get excited about.

Hiroyo Matsumoto vs. Meiko Satomura

As far as midcard matches go, this is about as big as it gets. Meiko Satomura is the owner of Sendai Girls’ and one of the best wrestlers in Japan. She recently lost a #1 Contendership match to Aja Kong, so to get a chance to win back the Sendai Girls’ World Championship she needs to notch a few wins. Hiroyo coming into the match held the OZ Academy Openweight Championship and the Goddesses of Stardom Championship, she is one of the top Joshi Freelancers and is a pretty even match for the Sendai Girls’ boss.

They lock knuckles to start, Meiko gets Hiroyo to the mat but Hiroyo switches positions with her and they jockey for position. Meiko kicks Hiroyo against the ropes before puling her back to the middle of the ring, Meiko throws Hiroyo against the ropes but Hiroyo knocks her down with a shoulderblock. Hiroyo picks up Meiko and chops her into the corner, Meiko charges Hiroyo but Hiroyo snaps her neck over the top rope. Hiroyo is a bit too proud of herself on the apron, giving Meiko time to recover and kick her in the head. Hiroyo falls out of the ring and Meiko goes out after her, where she proceeds to kick Hiroyo around the floor. Hiroyo eventually fights back and scoop slams Meiko on the floor, Hiroyo slides Meiko back in and goes up top but Meiko kicks her before she can jump off. Meiko Pele Kicks Hiroyo off the top turnbuckle and kicks Hiroyo into the corner, Hiroyo slowly gets back up and the two trade strikes. Meiko knees Hiroyo and takes her to the mat, she applies a crossface before releasing the hold and kicking Hiroyo in the chest. Meiko goes up top but Hiroyo elbows her before she can jump off, Hiroyo joins Meiko but Meiko pushes her off. Hiroyo quickly hits a Roaring Elbow before re-joining Meiko, hitting a superplex to the mat. Hiroyo picks up Meiko and puts her across the second rope, body avalanche by Hiroyo and she goes up top to hit a missile dropkick for a two count. Hiroyo picks up Meiko and gets her on her shoulders, gutbuster by Hiroyo and she delivers the reverse double kneedrop.

Hiroyo picks up Meiko and goes for the powerbomb, Meiko reverses it with a back bodydrop and kicks Hiroyo in the head. Kneedrop by Meiko, she goes up top but again Hiroyo recovers and walks to the corner. Meiko slides out to the apron and elbows Hiroyo back, she goes back up top and goes for a diving body press, but Hiroyo gets her knees up. Kicks by Meiko, she goes off the ropes but Hiroyo hits a body block followed by a lariat for two. Hiroyo picks up Meiko but Meiko hits a heel kick, Death Valley Bomb by Meiko but Hiroyo kicks out of the cover. Meiko drags Hiroyo to a seated position and applies a sleeper, she reverts it into a trapped choke but Hiroyo gets to the ropes. Cartwheel Kneedrop by Meiko, she picks up Hiroyo but Hiroyo blocks it when Meiko tries to pick her up. Meiko charges Hiroyo in the corner but Hiroyo catches her and hits a powerbomb. Spinning sit-down powerbomb by Hiroyo, but the cover only gets two. Hiroyo goes for a backdrop suplex but Meiko blocks it and hits a backdrop suplex of her own, Hiroyo gets back to her feet but Meiko nails her with a high kick. Roaring Elbow by Hiroyo but Meiko comes back with a Pele Kick, Death Valley Bomb by Meiko but the cover gets a two count. Meiko goes off the ropes but Hiroyo levels her with a back elbow, lariat by Hiroyo and she picks up the three count! Hiroyo Matsumoto wins!

Even though this was a midcard match, it may as well been the main event as they wrestled as if it was. The match had everything you’d expect – hard hits, passion, big suplexes, and a satisfying ending. The end stretch in particular was great, these two both rarely get pinned so it was logical they’d have to trade bombs before one of them went down for the three count. They don’t have a lot of history together but had really good chemistry anyway, and the 15 minutes just flew by. Really high end match and worth tracking down. Highly Recommended

Hana Kimura vs. Mika Shirahime

The winner becomes the #1 Contender for the Sendai Girls Tag Team Championship. We have seen both of these wrestlers earlier in the event, but to recap – Hana is a 19 year old Freelancer just starting her second year, while Mika is 20 years old and debuted in Sendai Girls’ during the summer of 2015. So its a pretty even match, with both looking to get their shot at the Sendai Girls’ Tag Team Championship. These two last wrestled just a month prior, with Mika picking up the win, however Hana defeated Mika in November so this is their rubber match.

They start the match slowly as they lock-up, Hana pushes Mika into the ropes and elbows her instead of giving a clean break. Mika returns the favor and they trade elbows back and forth until Mika hits a dropkick for two. Mika picks up Hana but Hana elbows her and works a side headlock. Hana takes Mika to the mat but Mika gets her in a headscissors, Hana gets out of it and goes back to the headlock but Mika rolls her up for two. Hana twists Mika’s leg but Mika kicks her and does the same to her. After they are done trading leglocks, Hana goes off the ropes but Mika catches her with a double wrist armsault for a two count. Mika kicks Hana into the corner and hits a snap vertical suplex, she picks up Hana but Hana blocks the next suplex attempt and kicks Mika in the stomach. Hana throws Mika into the corner and hits a double knee strike, dropkick by Hana and she covers Mika for two. Hana grabs Mika and goes for a suplex, but Mika blocks it and applies a guillotine choke. Hana gets out of it, Mika kicks Hana in the head and she gets a two count cover. Mika goes for another kick but Hana ducks it and applies a sleeper, Mika gets to the ropes but Hana quickly hits a running boot for a two count. Hana goes up top and hits a missile dropkick, another cover by Hana but Mika gets a shoulder up. Hana goes for another sleeper but Mika drills her with a high kick, both wrestlers slowly get up and Mika connects with a series of hard elbows. Mika bounces Hana off the ropes and rolls her up with a wing clutch hold for two, she goes off the ropes but Hana nails a big boot. Another big boot by Hana and she hits a third one, picking up the three count pinfall! Hana Kimura is your winner.

This was a really solid match between potentially two big Joshi stars down the road. Hana Kimura already has “it” as the crowds love her and her in-ring ability is above the level you’d expect from someone a year in, but Mika showed a lot of passion and has really grown a lot in the last six months. She always had the kicks but now she is also tying that into a personality, which is obviously just as important. They kept it pretty simple but everything was executed well, the crowd was into it and now Hana gets to go after a title in another promotion. A fun match between two young and hungry wrestlers. Mildly Recommended

(c) Hikaru Shida and Syuri vs. DASH Chisako and Cassandra Miyagi

This match is for the Sendai Girls’ Tag Team Championship. So far in 2017, Shida and Syuri have been the top tag team in Joshi Wrestling as they have held both these titles and the OZ Academy Tag Team Championship since late 2016. One of their hobbies has been beating DASH Chisako, as they won the tag titles against Chisako and KAORU, and then already defeated Chisako and Miyagi once before for their first title defense in February. But Chisako and Miyagi are back for another shot, which they somehow earned even though they haven’t tagged together between the two challenges. I am guessing if Chisako and Miyagi lose this time, they won’t be getting another chance.

Miyagi and Shida are the first two in, Miyagi headbangs at Shida but Shida shoulderblocks her to the mat. Shida throws Miyagi into the corner and hits a jumping knee, she slides out to the apron as Syuri comes in and charges Miyagi, but Miyagi holds down the rope and Syuri ends up on the apron with Shida. Miyagi falls out of the ring, Shida and Syuri go for jumping knees off the apron but Miyagi avoids it. Chisako goes up top and dives out onto the floor onto both Shida and Syuri, Miyagi slides Shida back in the ring and Chisako knees her against the ropes. Chisako goes to charge at Shida but Syuri trips her from the floor, she hangs her head over the apron and both she and Shida hitting running kneelifts. Shida stands on Chisako in the corner while taunting Meiko Satomura, she picks up Chisako after a moment and tags in Syuri. Syuri kicks Chisako repeatedly in the chest but Chisako catches one and slaps Syuri in the face. Big kick by Chisako and she tags in Miyagi, running elbow by Miyagi in the corner and she hits a bulldog on Syuri. Missile dropkick by Miyagi, Syuri rolls out of the ring but Miyagi goes up the apron and hits another missile dropkick down to the floor. Back in the ring, slingshot legdrop by Miyagi and she covers Syuri for two. Miyagi charges Syuri but Syuri drop toeholds her into the second rope, giving her a chance to make the tag to Shida. Shida and Miyagi trade elbows, eye poke by Miyagi and she levels Shida with a big boot. Samoan Drop by Miyagi, and she covers Shida for a two count. Syuri runs in but she knees Shida by accident, Chisako dropkicks Syuri out of the ring while Miyagi delivers the Samoan Driver onto Shida for another two.

She tags in Chisako, missile dropkick by Chisako but Shida hits an enzuigiri. She tries to tag in Shida but Miyagi pulls Syuri off the apron, Miyagi slams Shida in front of the corner and Chisako hits a diving footstomp for two. Chisako goes back up top but she gets a kendo stick thrown at her, knocking her to the floor. Shida tries to superplex Chisako back in the ring but Chisako blocks it and smacks her with a chair, Chisako puts the chair on Shida and nails the Hormone Splash, but Syuri breaks up the pin. Chisako puts Shida on the top turnbuckle and goes for an avalanche cutter, but Shida pushes her off. Shida suplexes Chisako before superplexing Miyagi onto Chisako, Syuri joins her and they both hitting running knees for two. Chisako eats a double running knee, cover by Shida but Chisako barely kicks out. Miyagi comes in and dropkicks Shida, cradle by Chisako to Shida but it gets two. Chisako goes for a hurricanrana but Shida catches her and hits a powerbomb, Falcon Arrow by Shida but Miyagi breaks up the pin. Syuri takes care of Miyagi, Shida goes off the ropes and hits the running knee onto Chisako, but Chisako reverses the cover into her own two count. Hurricanrana by Chisako, but Shida rolls through it and with Syuri they hit a double running knee for two. Shida waits for Chisako to get to a knee, she goes off the ropes and nails the Tamashii no Three Count for the three count! Shida and Syuri remain the champions.

One of the great things when two wrestlers stay together for a good chunk of time is they get really familiar with each other and feed off of each other constantly throughout the match, which is what Syuri and Shida did here. Chisako and Miyagi both were good but it was Syuri and Shida that really pop out as they are always helping each other and getting involved to make the match more exciting. Miyagi is still mostly character but the character is quality and in-ring she is slowly getting better. While its odd that Chisako/Miyagi got another title shot, it was still a very good championship match even if the winning team was never really in doubt. Recommended

(c) Aja Kong vs. Chihiro Hashimoto

This match is for the Sendai Girls’ World Championship. Aja Kong defeated Chihiro for the championship back in January, and this is her first defense. Chihiro just debuted about a year and a half ago, while Aja Kong is a 30 year veteran so the champion definitely has the edge in the experience department. Chihiro does have a win over Meiko Satomura, however, and is very motivated to get back the title she just held a few months prior.

The match starts with them feeling each other out, and doesn’t step up a notch until Kong starts biting on Chihiro’s arm. Kong punches Chihiro into the corner, she lets Chihiro out and Chihiro takes Kong back to the mat. Kong gets into the ropes but Chihiro keeps kicking at her, she finally lets Kong up and Kong knees Chihiro in the stomach. Chihiro goes for a takedown but Kong blocks it and puts Chihiro in a sleeper. Chihiro gets out of it and returns to her feet, short range hip attacks by Chihiro but Kong lariats her when she goes off the ropes. Chihiro comes back with a lariat of her own, she charges Kong again but Kong moves and Chihiro falls out of the ring. Kong goes out after her but Chihiro kicks her and slams Kong into the ring post. Chihiro picks up Kong and delivers a waterwheel drop on the floor, she slides Kong back in but Kong lariats Chihiro to the mat. Kong picks up Chihiro but Chihiro hits a scoop slam, somersault sentons by Chihiro and she covers Kong for two. Chihiro picks up Kong but Kong slides down and kicks Chihiro in the head, Chihiro charges Kong but Kong swats her to the mat. Kong takes Chihiro out to the floor and throws her into the crowd before throwing a chair at her head.

Kong tosses Chihiro around on the floor and into the bleachers, she throws a chair at her again before finally sliding Chihiro back into the ring. Kong picks up Chihiro and drops her with a backdrop suplex, cover by Kong but it gets a two count. Kong picks up Chihiro and drills her with a brainbuster, but again the cover gets two. Kong gets on the top turnbuckle and delivers a falling elbow drop, she picks up Chihiro and hits a Stunner. Kong goes up top again but Chihiro grabs her from behind and powerbombs her to the mat for a two count. Chihiro picks up Kong and hits a waterwheel drop, she drags her back up and hits a second one, covering Kong for two. Chihiro goes for a suplex but Kong drops down and puts Chihiro in an ankle hold, but Chihiro gets to the ropes for the break. Kong then puts Chihiro in a cross kneelock, but again Chihiro gets a hand into the ropes. Kong picks up Chihiro but Chihiro blocks the Uraken and drops Kong with a release German. Chihiro picks up Kong and hits a second release German suplex, she grabs her a third time but Kong catches her with a Uraken. They both slowly get up, Kong backfists Chihiro but Chihiro punches her in the face and hits a German Suplex Hold for the three count! Chihiro Hashimoto is the new champion!

I have a lot of mixed feelings about this match. When it was ‘on’ it worked really well, I really enjoyed Kong brutalizing Chihiro around the floor and Chihiro’s ability to look credible throwing lariats and suplexes against Kong says a lot about her at this stage of her career. But the match was way too long and had some real filler, and Kong’s leg submission holds 15 minutes into the match really slowed it down for no reason. The ending was also botched, mistakes happen but they are more noticeable when its the end stretch and is in the big title match. I enjoy both Kong and Chihiro but both are limited for different reasons, and I don’t think a 20+ minute match was the way to go. More good than bad, but as it is I can’t really recommend it since I fear anyone not invested in Sendai Girls’ or Chihiro would lose interest before the ending.

Final Thoughts

Literally the only thing this card was missing was a great main event, as everything else clicked. The young wrestler matches were all really solid, and Matsumoto/Satomura will be the best midcard match of the year as they treated it like they were closing out the show. The tag championship match was high end, as Syuri and Shida are the best team in Joshi, and the two minutes of the comedy match we saw was fine. The main event was above average but just too long and sluggish, they tried to make it an epic when it would have worked better as a heavyweight hoss sprint. Still, top to bottom nothing was bad on the entire card, and there are several matches I can easily recommend. A great show by Sendai Girls', and worth a watch by anyone interested in Joshi.